Device for preventing tangling of welding wire

ABSTRACT

There is provided a device for preventing tangling of welding wire. The device for preventing tangling of welding wire comprises a wire pressing member mounted on an upper end surface of a welding wire coiling member stacked in a pail pack; a wire guide member positioned in an inner side of the wire pressing member to guide a welding wire W that is being drawn from the welding wire coiling member; and at least two connection members connecting the wire pressing member and the wire guide member so that the wire pressing member and the wire guide member can move independently in relation to each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2007-109071 filed on Oct. 29, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a device for preventing tangling of welding wire.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a welding wire stacked in a pail pack has been widely used for continuous welding in order to enhance welding efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a pail pack in which a conventional device for preventing tangling of welding wire is installed, and FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating that a welding wire is being drawn from a pail pack in which a conventional device for preventing tangling of welding wire is installed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a welding wire W is coiled into a cylindrical pail pack 400. The coiled welding wire W is formed into a cylindrical welding wire coiling member 200 in the pail pack 400.

The welding wire W is continuously drawn through a hollow region of the welding wire coiling member 200 and supplied to a welding machine.

The welding wire W is spirally coiled in the pail pack 400 since twists are imparted to the welding wire W during a coiling process. Therefore, the twists of the welding wire W are released into an original state through its elastic recovery when the welding wire W is drawn from the pail pack 400.

Where a welding wire that is coiled with twists is not under the control, the welding wire suddenly recoils through its elastic recovery and gets tangled when the welding wire W is drawn from the pail pack 400.

The welding wire W that is being drawn is prevented from suddenly bouncing up and getting tangled since a ring-shaped device 100 for preventing tangling of welding wire is mounted on an upper end of the welding wire coiling member 200 in order to press the welding wire W.

Because the device 100 for preventing tangling of welding wire is integrally formed in the shape of a ring, the welding wire W receives a drawing resistance from the entire device 100 for preventing tangling of welding wire when the welding wire W is drawn from a pail pack 400. Therefore, it may be impossible to easily and stably draw the welding wire W from the pail pack 400.

Although the welding wire W is drawn without any drawing resistance, the device 100 for preventing tangling of welding wire is partially uplifted when the welding wire W is drawn out of the pail pack 400. In this case, the drawn welding wire W and its subsequently drawn welding wire W′ may be dragged out and tangled with each other.

Accordingly, this is problematic because it is difficult to stabilize the supply of the welding wire W to a welding machine, and there is a limit in obtaining an excellent shape of weld bead due to the high drawing resistance in drawing a wire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is designed to solve the problems of the prior art, and therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a device for preventing tangling of welding wire capable of easily drawing a welding wire from a pail pack by reducing a drawing resistance in drawing the welding wire.

Also, it is another object of the present invention to provide a device for preventing tangling of welding wire capable of preventing a subsequently drawn welding wire from being dragged out and tangled in drawing the welding wire.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for preventing tangling of welding wire including a wire pressing member mounted on an upper end surface of a welding wire coiling member stacked in a pail pack; a wire guide member positioned inside the wire pressing member to guide a welding wire W that is being drawn from the welding wire coiling member; and at least two connection members connecting the wire pressing member and the wire guide member so that the wire pressing member and the wire guide member move independently in relation to each other.

In this case, the wire pressing member or the wire guide member is formed in the shape of a ring.

Also, an inner circumference of the wire pressing member may be spaced apart from an outer circumference of the wire guide member.

In addition, a lower surface of the wire guide member may be curved in order to reduce a drawing resistance in drawing the welding wire W.

Additionally, each of the connection members may be made of an elastic material.

Also, each of the connection members may be connected to upper surfaces of the wire pressing member and the wire guide member.

In addition, each of the connection members may be loosely connected to the wire pressing member and the wire guide member.

Additionally, the wire coiling member may have a hollow central region, and the wire guide member may be disposed in the hollow central region of the wire coiling member.

Here, the device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention may further include at least two ascending guides disposed inside the pail pack along up-and-down directions and movably connected to the wire pressing member.

Also, the ascending guides may be disposed in a space between an inner surface of the pail pack and an outer surface of the wire coiling member to define the top of the wire coiling member, thus to prevent the welding wire W of the wire coiling member from bouncing up.

Additionally, the ascending guides may be formed in the shape of a band, and both ends of each of the ascending guides may be anchored to both the upper and lower sides of the pail pack.

Furthermore, through grooves may be formed in the wire pressing member so that the ascending guides are inserted into the wire pressing member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a pail pack in which a conventional device for preventing tangling of welding wire is installed.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating that a welding wire is being drawn from a pail pack in which a conventional device for preventing tangling of welding wire is installed.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a pail pack in which a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is installed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the device for preventing tangling of welding wire as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that the device for preventing tangling of welding wire as shown in FIG. 3 is installed in a pail pack.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wire drawing operation when a welding wire as shown in FIG. 3 is drawn from the pail pack.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is installed in a pail pack.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that the device for preventing tangling of welding wire as shown in FIG. 10 is installed in a pail pack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a pail pack in which a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is installed, FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the device for preventing tangling of welding wire, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the device for preventing tangling of welding wire.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, the device for preventing tangling of welding wire is mounted on an upper end surface of a welding wire coiling member 20 that is stacked inside a pail pack 40. The welding wire coiling member 20 is spirally coiled in the pail pack 40 while twists are being imparted to the welding wire W during a coiling process. Such a welding wire coiling member 20 may be formed in a cylindrical shape in which a hollow region is formed in a central region of the welding wire coiling member 20.

The device for preventing tangling of welding wire may include a wire pressing member 11 mounted on an upper end surface of a welding wire coiling member 20 coiled in a pail pack 40 in order to press the welding wire coiling member 20; a wire guide member 12 positioned inside the wire pressing member 11 to guide a welding wire W that is being drawn from the welding wire coiling member 20; and at least two connection members 13 connecting the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12 so that the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12 move independently in relation to each other.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent a welding wire from being elastically recovered and bouncing up due to the presence of the wire pressing member 11 and the connection member 13 positioned on the upper end surface of the wire coiling member 20. Also, the wire guide member 12 is installed so that the wire guide member 12 can move independently in relation to the wire pressing member 11, and therefore only the wire guide member 12 may be in contact with the welding wire W when the welding wire W is drawn through a hollow region of welding wire coiling member 20. Therefore, the welding wire W may be drawn from the pail pack 40 with significantly reduced drawing resistance.

Each of the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12 may be formed in the shape of a ring. The wire pressing member 11 presses the upper end surface of the cylindrical wire coiling member 20 with sufficient force since the wire pressing member 11 is formed in the shape of a ring. Also, a drawing resistance of the welding wire W drawn from the wire coiling member 20 may be reduced since an inner circumferential surface of the wire guide member 12 is formed in a circular shape, which leads to the easy drawing of the welding wire W.

Also, an inner circumference of the wire pressing member 11 may be spaced apart from an outer circumference of the wire guide member 12. In this case, the wire guide member 12 may be positioned inside the wire pressing member 11 since the inside diameter of the wire pressing member 11 is higher than the outside diameter of the wire guide member 12.

Additionally, connection members 13 that are made of a flexible material may be loosely connected between the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12. Therefore, when the welding wire is drawn from the pail pack 40, the wire guide member 12 moves but the wire pressing member 11 does not move by means of a drawing force of the welding wire W. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the welding wire W of the wire coiling member 20 from bouncing up through its elastic recovery by pressing an upper end surface of the wire coiling member 20.

Any flexible material is applicable to the connection member 13. Since the connection member 13 is formed of an elastic material having elasticity (i.e. flexibility), the wire guide member 12 and the wire pressing member 11 may more easily move independently in relation to each other. An elastic band having a predetermined width may be used as the connection member.

The shapes of the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12, or the shapes or connection position of the connection member 13 may be widely varied.

The wire pressing member 11 is positioned close to an inner wall of the pail pack 40, and the wire guide member 12 is positioned close to the center of the pail pack 40. Therefore, since the wire pressing member 11, the connection member 13 and the wire guide member 12 apply a pressure to the wire coiling member 20 when the welding wire W is not drawn, the welding wire W is prevented from bouncing up from the welding wire coiling member 20 through its elastic recovery.

The wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12 may be installed so that they can move down as the welding wire W is uncoiled from the upper end surface of the wire coiling member 20. In this case, an outer circumference of the wire pressing member 11 is spaced apart at a predetermined distance from an inner circumference of the pail pack 40. Therefore, even when the wire coiling member 20 is lowered in height as the welding wire W is uncoiled from the wire coiling member 20, the wire pressing member 11 and the wire guide member 12 continue to press the upper end surface of the wire coiling member 20.

An operation of the above-mentioned device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wire drawing operation when a welding wire is drawn from a pail pack.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the welding wire W is drawn from the welding wire coiling member 20 along a direction of arrow A, a drawing force of the welding wire W is applied in a direction of arrow B to a region of the wire guide member 12 that comes in contact with the welding wire W that is being drawn, as shown in FIG. 6.

In this case, a drawing resistance between the wire guide member 12 and the welding wire W that is being drawn is lowered since the region of the wire guide member 12 that comes in contact with the welding wire W that is being drawn is uplifted.

Also, a region of the wire guide member 12 that is opposite to the welding wire W that is being drawn moves towards the center of the pail pack 40. In this case, the opposite region of the wire guide member 12 moves down toward the hollow region of the welding wire coiling member 20. Therefore, the opposite regions of the wire guide member 12 and the connection member 13 apply a pressure to the welding wire coiling member 20 while covering it. In this case, a region of the welding wire W that is not drawn is dragged out with another region of the welding wire W that is being drawn, which prevents the both regions of the welding wire W from getting tangled.

As described above, it is possible to obtain a smooth shape of weld bead by preventing the tangling of the welding wire and easily drawing the welding wire.

Next, a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the wire guide member 12 may be disposed in a hollow region of the wire coiling member 20. In this case, a lower surface of the wire guide member 12 may be disposed in a lower position than the upper end surface of wire coiling member 20.

Since the wire guide member 12 is disposed in the hollow region of the wire coiling member 20, the connection member 13 applies a pressure to an upper inner circumferential surface of the wire coiling member 20. This structure functions to press the upper inner circumferential surface of the wire coiling member 20 more strongly, compared to the structure where the wire guide member 12 is disposed in the upper surface of the wire coiling member 20. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the welding wire W from being uncoiled and tangled in the inner circumferential surface of the wire coiling member 20.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, a lower surface of the wire guide member 12 may be formed with a curved shape. Therefore, a drawing resistance of the welding wire W may be lowered due to the curved lower surface of the wire guide member 12 when the welding wire W is drawn from the pail pack 40, which leads to the easier drawing of the welding wire W.

Except for the above-mentioned structure, the device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is substantially identical to the above-mentioned device for preventing tangling of welding wire, and therefore, its description is omitted for clarity.

Next, a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the connection members 13 may be connected to an upper surface of the wire pressing member 11 or the wire guide member 12. In this case, it is possible to prevent the connection member 13 from functioning as the medium of a drawing resistance of the welding wire W since the connection member is spaced apart from an upper end surface of the welding wire coiling member 20 (see FIG. 6).

The connection member 13 may be connected to any of a lower surface, lateral surfaces and an upper surface of the wire pressing member 11 or the wire guide member 12. When the connection member 13 is connected to the lower surface of the wire pressing member 11 or the wire guide member 12, the connection member 13 may function as the medium of the drawing resistance of the welding wire W, but may more stably press the upper end surface of the welding wire coiling member 6.

Except for the above-mentioned structure, the device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is substantially identical to the above-mentioned device for preventing tangling of welding wire, and therefore, its description is omitted for clarity.

Next, a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that the device for preventing tangling of welding wire is installed in a pail pack.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the device for preventing tangling of welding wire includes a wire pressing member 11, a wire guide member 12, connection members 13 and ascending guides 30.

The wire pressing member 11, the wire guide member 12 and the connection members 13 are substantially identical to those of the above-mentioned device for preventing tangling of welding wire according to still another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, their descriptions are omitted for clarity.

The ascending guides 30 are disposed inside the pail pack 40 along up-and-down directions. The wire pressing member 11 is connected to the ascending guides 30 so that the wire pressing member 11 can move up and down in relation to the ascending guides 30. In this case, through grooves 14 through which the ascending guides 30 may be passed may be formed in the circumference of the wire pressing member 11.

One side of each of the ascending guides 30 is anchored to an upper inner wall of the pail pack 40, and the other side of each of the ascending guides 30 is anchored to a lower inner wall of the pail pack 40. These ascending guides extend from the upper end from the lower end of the pail pack 40. In this case, the ascending guides may be formed in the shape of a band.

At least two ascending guides 30 may be generally installed in the pail pack 40. In this case, the ascending guide 30 may be disposed along the circumference of the pail pack 40 at the substantially same distances.

The ascending guide 30 may be disposed in a space between an inner surface of the pail pack 40 and an outer surface of the wire coiling member 20. In this case, the ascending guides 30 may basically prevent the welding wire W of the wire coiling member 20 from bouncing up from the wire coiling member 20 since the ascending guides 30 define the top of the wire coiling member 20.

When the upper end of the wire coiling member 20 is gradually lowered in height as the welding wire W is drawn from the wire coiling member 20, the welding wire pressing member 11 of the device 10 for preventing tangling of welding wire moves down along the ascending guides 30.

In addition to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied into other certain embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention has been shown and described in connection with the exemplary embodiments, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A device for preventing tangling of welding wire, comprising: a wire pressing member mounted on an upper end surface of a welding wire coiling member stacked in a pail pack; a wire guide member positioned inside the wire pressing member to guide a welding wire that is being drawn from the welding wire coiling member; and at least two connection members connecting the wire pressing member and the wire guide member so that the wire pressing member and the wire guide member move independently in relation to each other.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the wire pressing member or the wire guide member is formed in the shape of a ring.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein an inner circumference of the wire pressing member is spaced apart from an outer circumference of the wire guide member.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein a lower surface of the wire guide member is curved in order to reduce a drawing resistance in drawing the welding wire.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the connection members is made of an elastic material.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the connection members is connected to upper surfaces of the wire pressing member and the wire guide member.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the connection members is loosely connected to the wire pressing member and the wire guide member.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the wire coiling member has a hollow central region, and the wire guide member is disposed in the hollow central region of the wire coiling member.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least two ascending guides disposed inside the pail pack along up-and-down directions and movably connected to the wire pressing member.
 10. The device of claim 9, wherein the ascending guides are disposed in a space between an inner surface of the pail pack and an outer surface of the wire coiling member to define the top of the wire coiling member, thus to prevent the welding wire of the wire coiling member from bouncing up.
 11. The device of claim 9, wherein through grooves are formed in the wire pressing member so that the ascending guides are inserted into the wire pressing member. 